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John Sims Carter (1797-1834)
}} Biography John Sims Carter was an American leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. In the Church based in Kirtland, Ohio, Carter was one of 12 members of the first presiding high council established in 1834 by church founder Joseph Smith (1805-1844). Carter was born in Killingworth, Connecticu, to Gideon Carter and Johanna Sims, and had moved with his family to Benson, Vermont, in the late 1700s. John was the presiding elder of a Baptist Congregation in Benson VT. Early Mormon Missionary Carter was introduced to Mormonism by his brother Jared, who had been baptized into the new faith in 1831. John Carter was baptized in 1832, was ordained an elder, and proselytized with his brother on a mission in Vermont, where they established congregations in North West Bay and Bolton. In early 1833, Carter moved to Bolton, where he became a leader of the church. The journal of John Sims, starting in December 1831 gives the best account of his introduction to the Gospel of Jesus Christ: "In November removed from Middlesex to Benson (Vermont), greatly exercised to know my duty. My brother Jared having lately joined the Church of Christ and being at this time in Benson preaching, where members had already come over to his belief. I now greatly desired to be qualified to meet him on Gospel ground & to give that council to the souls around me that they stand agreed. Not knowing whether his preaching was true or false I determined to continue praying until God would unfold to me the truth. For many days I prayed and wept much before the Lord pleading with my whole soule that God would lead me aright. At length I felt the assurance that God would answer my prayers. The same day I felt it my duty to be baptized. Which I did & members of my children soon followed - viz- Betsey, Harriet and Maryette & Angelina. A scene of temptation soon came upon me which greatly affected me. Added to this, also, was much distress in my family, by poverty and sickness. My wife and Betsey, I greatly feared would soon leave me. Satin (sic) also ley hard at me with many frightful temptations concerning this work of the Lord-- as that it was not his, but the invention of some wicked one. This made me weep and cry before the Lord, until He gave me many testimonies to assure me that altho strange, yet, it was indeed his work. Yet, was I not as believing as I should have been & grate affliction followed. Soon after God was pleased to remove my dear daughter Betsey & shortly after followed our dear little babe. My bloved wife did not now unite with me in this work. Her relations & mine in the flesh were also grievously opposed. We were this summer visited by a number of Elders among whom were Br's Simeon, Gideon & Jared. The conference also in August set in Benson Attended by Elders Simeon Carter, G. H. Carter, Jared Carter, Sylvester Smith, Elisha Collins, Zebulon Adams, Orson Pratt & Lymon Johnson,-----Alldridge & myself." John S. Carter, and his brothers Jared and Simeon, were all missionaries in New England in late 1931. Jared and Simeon taught a wealthy New York landowner, John Tanner. John had accumulated about 2200 acres of prime land, a sawmill, a gristmill, a dairy, and a large herd of cows. "He had contracted a disease that afflicted his leg, and for five months he hobbled around on crutches. Then he met two missionaries, Jared and Simeon Carter, who informed him of the restoration of Gods Church. After reading the Book of Mormon, John Tanner was converted, and he was immediately healed following a prayer by one of the missionaries. As he walked without crutches, he wept and praised the Lord for sending him the gospel with its accompanying blessings." Presiding High Council In September 1833, Carter moved to Jackson County, Missouri, the location that Smith had identified as the gathering place of Latter Day Saints. Later, he moved to church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio, and became a high priest. When Presiding high council of LDS Church was established by Smith on February 17, 1834, Carter and his brother Jared were selected as two of its inaugural members. Three days later, Carter was appointed by Smith to serve a mission to the eastern United States with Jesse Smith. * LDS Kirtland Ohio Stake - original member of the 1st stake high council. Zions Camp Participant One of the most interesting episodes in the early history of LDS Church was the march of Zion's Camp (1834). The members of the Church in Missouri were being persecuted, and the Prophet Joseph made it a matter of prayer and received a revelation on February 24, 1834. The Lord instructed the Prophet to assemble at least one hundred young and middle-aged men and to go to the land of Zion, or Missouri. (See D&C 130:19–34.) Zion’s Camp, a group of approximately one hundred and fifty men, gathered at Kirtland, Ohio, in the spring of 1834 and marched to Jackson County, Missouri. By the time they reached Missouri, the camp had increased to approximately two hundred men. Carter did not immediately leave on this mission, but instead volunteered to be part of Zion's Camp, an expedition of Latter Day Saints that intended to walk from Kirtland to Jackson County, Missouri, in an attempt to regain land that members of the church had been expelled from by non-Mormon settlers. The march proved difficult and there was some dissension among its participants. On June 20, 1834, after three men had contracted cholera, Smith reportedly warned the group: in consequence of the disobedience of some who had been unwilling to listen to my words, but had rebelled, God had decreed that sickness should come upon the camp, and if they did not repent and humble themselves before God they should die like sheep with the rot; that I was sorry, but could not help it. The scourge must come; repentance and humility may mitigate the chastisement, but cannot altogether avert it. But there were some who would not give heed to my words. Smith's record from June 24, 1834, while the camp was in Clay County, Missouri, states: This night the cholera burst forth among us, and about midnight it was manifested in its most virulent form. Our ears were saluted with cries and moanings and lamentations on every hand; even those on guard fell to the earth with their guns in their hands, so sudden and powerful was the attack of this terrible disease. At the commencement, I attempted to lay on hands for their recovery, but I quickly learned by painful experience, that when the great Jehovah decrees destruction upon any people, and makes known His determination, man must not attempt to stay His hand. The moment I attempted to rebuke the disease I was attacked, and had I not desisted in my attempt to save the life of a brother, I would have sacrificed my own. The disease seized upon me like the talons of a hawk, and I said to the brethren: "If my work were done, you would have to put me in the ground without a coffin." ... When the cholera made its appearance, Elder John S. Carter was the first man who stepped forward to rebuke it, and upon this, was instantly seized, and became the first victim in the camp. He died about six o'clock in the afternoon .... Carter's body was wrapped in a blanket and buried near Rush Creek, Missouri. Marriage and Family In 1813, he married Elizabeth Kinyon (1793-1828) ("Betsey") in Benson VT. She died in 1828. He remarried circa 1830 to Jarusha Carter (1799-1835), but she would not have anything to do with the Mormons. "My bloved wife did not now unite with me in this work. Her relations & mine in the flesh were also grievously opposed." References * Wikipedia:John S. Carter (Latter Day Saints) * Letter to John S Carter - letter dated 13-April-1833 from Joseph Smith to John S Carter (JosephSmithPapers.org) * Mormon Pioneers Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Latter Day Saint missionaries in the United States Category:Converts to Mormonism Category:Deaths from cholera Category:Doctrine and Covenants people Category:Infectious disease deaths in Missouri Category:American Latter Day Saint missionaries Category:Leaders in the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) Category:People from Rutland County, Vermont Category:People from Killingworth, Connecticut